Dewey Endorses Dulles Middle East Policy; is Honored by Z.o.a

October 31, 1955

NEW YORK (Oct. 30)

Former Governor Thomas E. Dewey tonight endorsed Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’ policy on the Middle East, and stressed that the United States and its Western Allies are still committed to the Tripartite Declaration of 1950, which guarantees the borders of Israel and the Arab states against aggression. Mr. Dewey spoke at a $100-a-plate dinner given in his honor by the Zionist Organization of America. The funds raised at the dinner will be used to finance ZOA programs in this country and Israel.

Mr. Dewey, who charged that the Soviet Union was supplying arms to Egypt as a means of diverting the attention of the West from its moves toward 700 million peoples in the Middle and Far East, said that the Tripartite Declaration must be enforced by the West to counter Soviet intentions, if diplomatic moves at Geneva fail to reverse the latest developments. Referring to Mr. Dulles’ speech of last August, offering to underwrite an Israel-Egypt peace if the parties first reach agreement, Mr. Dewey said he believed that it “set forth a charter for a sound solution” and expressed the hope that the nations involved would find it “appropriate to accept the formula.”

In a message to the dinner, Mr. Dulles said: “The complex problems which exist in the Near East today require the closest consideration and deepest understanding of all Americans. In our efforts to build peace and security throughout the world, the decisions which all of us face in the Near East take on conspicuous significance.”

Dr. Emanuel Neumann and Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, both speakers at the dinner, hit out at State Department policy in the Middle East and urged a reversal of the current trend of wooing the Arabs while by-passing Israel. Mortimer May, ZOA president, also spoke.